Abstract

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is sometimes used for lidar because of the sensitivity of LIF spectra to chemical composition. Because of aerosols, background fluorescence, and quenching associated with the boundary layer, most LIF lidar studies have been restricted to simple gases above the troposphere. We performed a computer simulation to show the feasibility of applying UV fluorescence lidar to the chemical analysis of aerosols and hard targets in the troposphere. We applied factor analysisrank annihilation (FARA) techniques to a numerically generated excitation-emission matrix (EEM) of a mixture of amino acids. The EEM of the mixture was modified to include atmospheric extinction. The calculated concentrations of the amino acids were greatly reduced by extinction. This shows that the LIF spectrum must be deconvolved from the atmospheric extinction spectrum to properly interpret UV fluorescence lidar returns.

© 1989 Optical Society of America